Jackal Kuwahara
Background Kuwahara Jackal (ジャッカル桑原, Jakkaru Kuwahara) is a half-Japanese, Half-Brazilian player who serves as the wall of defense of Rikkaidai. He usually is on a look out on Rikkai's ace player, Kirihara Akaya, and at times takes responsibility for the sophomore's actions. He plays doubles with Marui Bunta. Known as The Man with Four Lungs, he takes pride in his endurance and refuses to back down when his forte is challenged. With his excellent defensive skills, it doesn't come as a surprise that Jackal plays a key role in Rikkai's doubles. His iron wall of defense is so tight that most of his opponents can't even score a point from him. Jackal's father runs a Ramen restaurant. Unlike most players, Jackal is one of the few who group in a Western Country. Jackal learned tennis while he was in Brazil as a child and had great respect for his coach, so much that he even copies his hairstyle while in Japan. Appearance Jackal in his family restaurant after school.png|Jackal in his dads restaurant. Jackal is dark skinned and bald. The reason he shaves his head and keeps a bald hairstyle is to pay respect to his Coach who taught him tennis while he was in Brazil. His old coach was bald, so Jackal keeps his hair bald and never grows his hair. Jackal mixed Brazilian heritage from his maternal lineage. Personality Jackal is proud of his abilites like each of the members of Rikkai Dai. He is mostly proud of his amazing level of stamina and refuses to back down when challenged in his expertise as shown against Kaido Kaoru during the Doubles 2 match between Rikkai and Seigaku at the Regionals finals of Marui/Jackal pair against Momoshiro/Kaido pair. While in Brazil, Jackal was trained by a bald coach, and for that reason, Jackal never grows his hair and keeps his hair bald as a homage to his old coach back in Brazil. '' '' History One Year Prior To The Storyline Marui and Jackal befriend Kirihara Akaya after Kirihara arrogantly challenges the 3 Monsters and watch him get effortlessly humbled by Yanagi Renji, Sanada Genichiro andYukimura Seiichi. They treat Kirihara to ramen after seeing him playing at an arcade and explain how Rikkaidai won the Nationals the previous year and that the best players in the club, were in fact the 2nd years who were the 3 monsters at this time and that the seniors that Kirihara thought were the driving force behind Rikkai Dai were nothing compared to their year. Marui watches on with Niou Masaharu, his best friend Jackal, and Yagyuu Hiroshi as Kirihara faces Sanada for a rematch. He is shocked seeing Kirihara go Bloodshot Mode for the first time. Regionals Jackal and Rikkai Dai entered the Kanto Regional Tournament as favourites after winning it for several years consecutively despite their captain not being able to appear in the tournament after falling sick with a serious illness. Nationals Jackal and Rikkai Dai head into the Nationals as underdogs after losing their Regional tournament but after the return of their captain Yukimura Seiichi, they believe victory will be certain. The tournament begins as a swift walk in the park for Rikkai Dai as they cruise through past all of their opponents until the Semifinals. At the Semifinals, it appears as though Rikkai Dai are having difficulty against their opponents Nagoya Seitoku from the Aichi region,a team where all the regulars are Western Foreigners. At first, it appears Yagyuu Hiroshi is utterly defeated in Singles 3 by one of them. Then in Doubles 2, it appears that Marui and Jackal are also outclassed. With everything seemingly relying on the shoulders 2nd Year Kirihara Akaya who plays agaisnt Nagoya Seitoku's ace Liliadent Krauser. Krauser effortlessly jumps to an early lead and dominated Kirihara with his power and Hopping Ball shot. Until suddenly Kirihara activates Devil Mode and makes a 7-5 comeback annihalating Krauser. Marui, Jackal, Yagyuu and the rest of the team laugh and smile at Kirihara after his match and reveal that they werent playing seriously at all and only lost on purpose just as to make Kirihara activate Devil Mode to help ensure victory for the finals. Rikkai then win the next matches in Doubles 1 and Singles 1 and advance to the finals. Prior To U-17 Camp Kawamura, Jackal, Kirihara and Marui in Kanagawa.jpg|Jackal with Kirihara, Marui and Kawamura in Kanagawa. Jackal in his uniform.jpg|Kuwahara as he shops for things for the Rikkai Ocean Festival. Jackal and Marui go shopping in Kanagawa to buy things for the Rikkai Ocean Festival. Sometime prior to the U-17 camp, Marui, Jackal, and Kirihara shop for materials for Rikkai's Ocean Festival. While shopping for materials, Marui and Jackal bump into Kawamura Takashi of Seigaku who was visiting a relative in a hospital in Kanagawa. Kirihara arrives shortly and suddenly a dog jumps into a Kirihara and runs away with the stuffed toy that was in Kirihara's hand. The four of them give chase to the dog until Kirhara is able to tackle the dog and retrieve it in the end. U-17 Camp Sometime after the Nationals, the Rikkai Dai team was invited to the U-17 training camp along with several other middle schoolers. Kuwahara like all of the 50 middle schoolers invited is able to retrieve a ball that the helicopter drops which was the requirement to be allowed to stay in the camp. He watches as his fellow Middle Schoolers annihalate the weaker High Schoolers from the 10th Court and below who challenged them for the balls they obtained. Right after the first official shuffle match, which was Momoshiro Takeshi losing against High Schooler Oni Juujiro and resulting in having pain in both of his wrists, the mental coach for the U-17 Camp Saito appears. He asks all the present middle schoolers to pair up with whoever they want, leading them to believe they are to be a doubles pair. Jackal pairs with best friend Marui Bunta. The Mental Coach suddenly declares all Middle Schoolers that the person that they paired with is the person they must take on in a tie-breaker match where the winner stays in the camp but the loser is sent home. Jackal loses a narrow encounter with Marui 8-10 meaning he had to be sent home. On the coach home, the losers argue amongst themselves about the fairness of being sent home and wanting a chance to take on those who defeated them again. The driver suddenly takes a detour being completely different from the route home which alarms the Middle Schoolers. The coach pulls up and tells the Middle Schooler's they have arrived. The Middle Schoolers step off the coach only to see the Mental Coach with the two Super Rookies Echizen Ryoma and Tooyama Kintaro waiting for them. Mountain Training Coach Saito tells the Losers that if they dont want a gap to exist between those who defeated them and themselves that they should see if they can climb the cliff behind him. The Middle Schoolers brave the mountain climbing and reach the hidden mountain training camp with the drunken coach. While there, Jackal and the other middle schoolers get involved in various dangerous tasks and most dangerously an eagle hunt. Afterwards, the Middle School losers come back, not as losers but as the 2nd Court. It is unknown who took part in the matches, but the 8 players of the previous court were defeated and replaced. After some quick shuffle matches, the Top 20 U-17 players of Japan arrive back at the camp from their expedition. Tennis Record Playing Style and Techniques Jackal is famous for being the man who is difficult to get shots past. He is able to return most shots and is also known for his incredible stamina. He is proud of this, and refuses to back down when his fort is challenged.He is also known as the Iron Wall. Boomerang Snake : A Snake that curves around the net post. Similar to the original Snake, the Boomerang Snake is a move from in which the tennis ball swings around the net in a sideways arch out of the court and back into the court on the other side instead of going over the net. Pinwheel Beat : A sidespin return that after touching the ground, slows down in spin then picks up again throwing off the opponent. Trivia *In the Musical's, he is played by Jutta Yūki and by Shingo Toda. *Jackal is 178cm tall *For Elementary, Jackal went to Santos Private in Brazil before switching to Kanagawa Daisan Middle School in Kanagawa, Japan. *He went to Kanagawa Daisan Middle School. Which is the same Middle School as Marui Bunta and Kirihara Akaya. Despite their being no indication of Kirihara and Jackal knowing each other prior to Rikkai Daigaku, Kirihara Akaya also went to the same Middle School. Category:Characters Category:Tennis Player Category:Rikkaidai Tennis Club Member Category:Middle Schooler Category:3rd Year Middle School Category:U-17 Camp Category:Counterpuncher Category:Right-Handed Category:Kanto Players Category:Kanagawa Players Category:Doubles Specialists Category:Capable with Singles and Doubles Category:Revolutionary Brigade Category:2nd Stringers